


Foreign Feelings and Lonely Exchanges

by thegoldensnitchfics



Category: Phandom/The Fantastic Foursome (YouTube RPF)
Genre: Alternate Universe - High School, Angst, Anxiety, Dan Howell and Phil Lester Are Teenagers, Depression, Eventual Romance, Falling In Love, Fluff, Foreign Exchange Student, Friends to Lovers, M/M, Phan - Freeform, Sexuality
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-01-02
Updated: 2018-01-01
Packaged: 2019-02-26 15:39:06
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,140
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13238835
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/thegoldensnitchfics/pseuds/thegoldensnitchfics
Summary: Dan Howell is a 16 year old foreign exchange student who moves to Florida to live with Phil Lester, a 16 year old stranger. Dan struggles to adapt to the new environment while his anxiety and depression persist. His and Phil's friendship begins to bloom and Phil discovers, while trying to help Dan escape his darkness, that he cares for Dan much more than any normal friend. Romance and fluff ensue.





	Foreign Feelings and Lonely Exchanges

A dull pounding sounded in Dan’s ears as the plane took off. There were dozens of people around him, mumbling about their own concerns, but all he heard was the blood rushing in his ears, draining out of his face, and turning to ice in his veins. He stared out the window, breathing shallowly, in through his nose, out through his mouth. A voice came on over the speaker and he ignored it.  


His destination was an obscure town in Florida. All of his life he had lived in England and his parents decided it was time for him to, “get out of his comfort zone and explore the world and his options,” as they told him. He would be a foreign exchange student and go to a school he had never seen, with a boy he had never met, living with a family he did not know. His stomach rolled and sweat collected on his palms. He didn’t want to be here, he wanted to be anywhere but on this floating, metal death trap.  


Sighing, he leaned his head against the cool window and let his mind drift elsewhere.  
..............................  


“Phil! You need to wake up,” His mom yelled into his room. “Dan comes today and I need you to tidy up the house while your father and I go get him.”  


He sighed and pulled his pillow over his face. He thought back to when his parents first told him that they would be hosting a foreign exchange student. At the time he though they were just doing it to feel better about themselves, and a part of him still believed this. Though, his parents told him that he needed to socialize more, that he was too lonely, and this would be the perfect way to do that. Forced social interaction. Perfect.  


Phil pulled his comforter off of himself and dressed in a tshirt and jeans before exiting his room. His mom told him everything that needed to be done and said goodbye before leaving with his dad. Phil thought of himself as a generally happy person, but this did not stop him from being slightly unnerved by the thought of a stranger living with them. He was particularly intimidated by the fact that Dan was his age and he knew nothing about him other than that.  


What if he and Dan didn’t get along? Or, what if Dan was a sports player and was completely uninterested in what Phil enjoyed?” These questions plagued Phil as he cleaned the house. He changed the sheets to the bed that Dan would be sleeping in. They would be sharing a room. His parents insisted that this would help them become better friends but he was sure that forcing two 16 year old strangers to share a room would be uncomfortable at best. Factor that in with the beds being bunk beds and the fact that Phil was 6 feet tall made it all the worse. He’d take the top bunk and give Dan the bottom bunk out of kindness.  


He silenced his worries by listening to music and drifted off into sleep.  
..............................  


Dan awoke to a too high pitched voice announcing that they would be landing in precisely 20 minutes. Fear pooled in his stomach and weighed down his limbs. In sleep he was able to escape the inevitable but now he was awake and he was sure it was not turbulence causing him to shake, but rather his nerves.  


Dan ran his hands through his curly brown hair, making it even more dishivled than it already was. He ran through how he would introduce himself to the parents once he met them. His parents had told his foreign exchange family that he was shy, but he wasn’t shy. He had overwhelming anxiety that at times was overtaken by depression and nobody seemed to understand it. He worried at his bottom lip and pulled down on his sleeves, hiding his too thin, too pale arms.  


A woman appeared next to his seat.  


“Sir? Sir, you need to fasten your seat belt. We are about to land.” Dan snapped to attention and did as she directed. A sort of numbness spread through his body. He felt disconnected and like his too long limbs did not belong to him anymore. He was not directing his life but was just being influenced by those around him.  


He breathed deeply, trying to regain his mind. In through his nose, out through his mouth. Or, was it supposed to be in through his mouth, out through his nose? His mind was then overtaken by that issue and thoughts of breathing became so much that he felt like he could no longer breath. His heart rate sped up. The plane was too crowded. The air was too warm. The plane was spinning. They were going to crash and he would die. Thoughts of death filled his mind, but he was used to those. Gasping for air, spinning, crashing, death, quiet. Stillness.  


The plane went still and he opened his eyes to find the passengers around him milling about, reaching for their bags and walking off the landed plane. He looked out the window and was greeted by clouds and rain. It was as if he had never left home, except for the palm trees that were scattered across the land.  


Dan walked off the plane with his carry on bag. It was all that he had brought with him since his parents sent him with money to buy new clothing once he had arrived. The plane arrived early, so he wandered around the airport. Souvenirs with images of the sun and palm trees littered the airport. Keychains printed with generic names could be seen in every store. Dan grabbed a soda in the hopes of settling his stomach, but it was no use.  


A girl smiled and winked at Dan while he walked past her. He blushed and tripped from being both uncomfortable and embarrassed. Dan hated that about himself. He hated that he was unable to talk to girls, unable to talk to anybody. Everyone at home had been in a relationship and Dan was always alone. He learned to deal with it, and it wasn’t from lack of possible partners. Plenty of girls had been interested in him, but he was so bad at talking to them, so he simply didn’t.  


Eventually enough time had passed that Dan knew he could no longer avoid meeting the Lesters. He got up from where he had been sitting on the ground and found his way to the nearest airport map and located their designated meeting spot. With a deep breath, Dan walked towards where the people he would be living with for the next 10 months waited and his nerves seemed to fade as he did so.

**Author's Note:**

> This fic is just a work of my imagination. I plan on taking my time with the plot and really exploring the characters. I also plan to update often and regularly. I hope you all enjoy. If you have any questions, comments, or suggestions, please do not hesitate to leave them below. Any constructive feedback is greatly appreciated.  
> -xx


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